cloister

[kloi-ster]

noun

1. a covered walk, especially in a religious institution, having an open arcade or colonnade usually opening onto a courtyard.

2. a courtyard, especially in a religious institution, bordered with such walks.

3. a place of religious seclusion, as a monastery or convent.

   Synonyms: priory, abbey

4. any quiet, secluded place.

5. life in a monastery or convent.

verb (used with object)

1. to confine in a monastery or convent.

2. to confine in retirement; seclude.

3. to furnish with a cloister or covered walk.

4. to convert into a monastery or convent.

cloister

/ ˈklɔɪstə /

noun

1. a covered walk, usually around a quadrangle in a religious institution, having an open arcade or colonnade on the inside and a wall on the outside

2. (sometimes plural) a place of religious seclusion, such as a monastery

3. life in a monastery or convent

verb

1. (tr) to confine or seclude in or as if in a monastery

Other Word Forms

• cloister-like adjective
• cloisterless adjective
• cloisterlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cloister¹

1250–1300; Middle English cloistre < Anglo-French, Old French, blend of cloison partition ( cloisonné ) and clostre (< Latin claustrum barrier ( Late Latin: enclosed place); claustrum )

Word History and Origins

Origin of cloister¹

C13: from Old French cloistre, from Medieval Latin claustrum monastic cell, from Latin: bolt, barrier, from claudere to close; influenced in form by Old French cloison partition

Example Sentences

A vast blaze has torn through the historic Bernaga Monastery in northern Italy, the Italian fire service said Sunday, forcing the evacuation of 22 cloistered nuns.

Read more on Barron's

In the intervening years, Anderson, who is 95, has plumbed the cloistered world of clock collectors.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Yet his work has never stayed cloistered within academia.

Read more on Salon

Unlike Parolin, he has decades of pastoral experience – meaning he has been an active Church leader among the people as opposed to a diplomat for the Vatican or cloistered expert on Church law.

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The single storey building consists of five separate interconnecting buildings which are located around a cloistered courtyard and communal and administration areas.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• nunnery